Since sporting clays is typically a 100 round affair, it would depend on how many times I shoot during a week. I also shoot 5-stand, and can shoot 4-6 rounds of that. So figuring one round of sporting and 6 rounds of 5-stand, that's a flat, or 250, cartridges per week

I normally shoot 4 - 6 lines of Skeet per range trip / so 100 - 150 shells. Then we follow up with 1 or 2 rounds of Skeet Doubles at stations 3, 4 and 5 so 50 more shells there.

If I practice more than 8 rounds a day ( or 200 shells ) / I find mental fatigue sets in ... and its lead downrange, but it isn't very productive. I don't shoot more than 1 or 2 days a week.

I don't find 5 Stand to be very good practice for sporting clays / although the target presentations can be similar -- 5 stand shots vary so much from station to station / its harder to groove your fundamentals at 5 stand vs Skeet where you get a lot of repetition ( stance, gun mount, focus, foot position, break point focus, follow-thru, etc ). 5 Stand is fun / I just don't think shooting 200 5 stand targets a week is the best practice / at least not for me.

When I was preparing for big tournaments / like our state sporting clays tournament - I would shoot 2 lines of regular Skeet, 2 lines of Continental Trap (with my Skeet and sporting clays gun - not my Trap guns ) and 2 rounds of Skeet doubles. It mixed it up / kept me mentally more alert and ready for a 4 day tournament.

When I go to a sporting clays shoot - one day event / I rarely go thru the course a 2nd time. When I have gone thru a 2nd time / I often miss the target I hit the 1st time because I lose focus and take them for granted / and I do better on targets I missed on the 1st round. I'm a B class shooter / averaging about a 72 ......so I'm no master class guy breaking 90's ....and I do it for fun anyway / but that's some of the stuff that works best for me.

I also don't shoot sporting 12 mos a year / its wet up here in the winter anyway ..... but I need a break mentally. I do better if I focus on a 6 month season ( Apr - Oct ) or so .... get my warm ups in, in March, then hit it hard in April .....

When I was shooting NSSA skeet, practice was typically 150 targets, 5-days a week. Most practice was 4 rounds of regular skeet with a .410-bore or 28-ga followed by 2 rounds of doubles with a 20 or 12-ga. Area tournaments were usually 8-rounds (200 targets) a day for 3 days.

When I was also shooting ATA trap, too. Daily practice was increased to 175 - 200 targets a day. One day would be mostly skeet and the next mostly trap.

We have free lessons in our club if needed...when I became the member (2 weeks ago) the president of the club spent 2 hours with me (explained all the bassics and shoot with me few rounds, he said that I need to shoot 1000-2000 shells more and then he'll show me the next step, he said that I am "natural" (I don't know what he meant)...Actually, I went shooting yesterday and I was a way better after dry-fire at home for a week, I was more confident and the gun wasn't heavy any more. I was breaking those targets automatically...I was so excited that I could not fall a sleep, I saw breaking targets in my head...Thank you guys a lot for all your tips and advises...

This email link is to reach site administrators for assistance, if you cannot access TFL via other means. If you are a TFL member and can access TFL, please do not use this link; instead, use the forums (like Questions, Suggestions, and Tech Support) or PM an appropriate mod or admin.

If you are experiencing difficulties posting in the Buy/Sell/Trade subforums of TFL, please read the "sticky" announcement threads at the top of the applicable subforum. If you still feel you are qualified to post in those subforums, please contact "Shane Tuttle" (the mod for that portion of TFL) via Private Message for assistance.

This email contact address is not an "Ask the Firearms Expert" service. Such emails will be ignored. If you have a firearm related question, please register and post it on the forums.